Immortal
by Obsessed Authoress
Summary: Oz was never really a child. The years may have said so, but there was always something in those bright green eyes that said otherwise, deep and hidden and all-knowing, hinting at a being beyond the measures of time. And so Gil wonders... GilxOz ONESHOT


A/N- More _PH _GilxOz fluff! Expect even more of this from me in the future...darn plot bunnies won't leave me alone, dammit...!

-Whew- Um, I don't even want to admit how long it took to write this itty-bitty oneshot, 'cause really, it took forever. And I hit like five detours in the middle, so it sounds like I'm rambling, and it didn't turn out quite right, but I didn't know how to fix it, and- augh! Anyway, I'm not quite satisfied, but...oh well. You guys can be the judge, ne? Hope you like it! (Even though I just bad-mouthed it...) -OA

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**Immortal **

_By ObsessedAuthoress_

Disclaimer: I don't own _Pandora Hearts.

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Oz has always seemed older than his years.

Even when he was a child, he wasn't _really_ a child. True, there were parts of him that felt like normal, the playfulness and teasing and simple joy only a child knows. But then there were the parts that were so _un_like a child, strong enough to overwhelm the others. Gil remembers catching glimpses of those parts, hints of places in Oz that were deep and dark and enigmatic.

Like he knew things no sweet little boy in his position should know.

Like he was trying to hide inexplicable age behind a mere façade of youth.

Gil considers this mystery sometimes, when he's feeling even more serious than usual and also happens to have some time on his hands. He turns the matter around in his head, cigarette idle between his lips, and tries to figure it out. And just when he gets to the core of the issue- _But- but if he's older than he seems, then, ah…how old is Oz really?- _

-The boy in question runs up, steals Gil's hat, and runs off again, giggling madly.

…_Um…_

Usually at this point (_after many loud protests_) Gil sighs and lights up another cigarette, reminded of the fact that while Oz sometimes seems older than he is, there are also times when the blond seems _younger_ than he is. Painfully young, all innocence and honesty and simplicity that breaks the heart to witness, especially when it clashes with the icy cruelty of the world and all its horrors. The kind of young that makes Gilbert want desperately to hide Oz away from all that pain and suffering that's just waiting to snatch him up.

_The pain and suffering that has _already_ snatched him up…_

So then, where's the balance, the fine line that separates two sides of a unique persona? Is the naïveté merely a cloak, a mask to hide the fathomless pool beneath?

Sometimes Oz returns after a little while and gives back Gil's hat, rubbing the back of his head abashedly, and apologizes for the bite marks on the brim: _"Alice was hungry, eheheh…" _

Sometimes he holds the hat for ransom until Gil surrenders (_most reluctantly_) all the cigarettes on his person. Obedience to this demand earns him his hat back and a pack of cigarette-shaped chocolates.

Sometimes the hat is commandeered for the rest of the day to be worn by the young lord, no matter how Gilbert complains. _"I want to wear it for a while, Gil! Besides, I like you better without it; this way it's easier to see your face!" _And a smile warm and bright, like a ray of sunshine…

"…_I can't see what you lost that was so important that you lost yourself, too… Tell me. Just what isn't you anymore?" _

_Who are you? Who are you really? And…how do you know to say those things? _

It's a mystery.

Of course, Gil has a vague sense that all of this should bother him a bit more than it does. The apparent age difference between himself and Oz should embarrass him more than it does. When he takes that sweet (_young_) face into his hands, and kisses the smooth, full lips until their pale pink blossoms, he should feel guiltier than he does. After all, what does this make him, a cradle-robber smirking triumphantly over a captured infant?

He knows he should feel that way.

But then he thinks of the boy who steals his hat (_sleeping, sleeping so gently beside him, slumbering unaware in a protective embrace, sweet Master_), the same boy who somehow knows just what to say to straighten every crooked path before him. So…while the young Oz is Oz, the wise, ageless Oz who can see through his very soul is _also_ Oz, a blend that's virtually impossible to comprehend.

Truthfully, Gil has given up trying to understand how all this works, how two such diverse sides can belong to the same coin. All he knows is that, in a strange, selfish kind of way, it makes him feel better to know that the boy in his arms isn't _really_ as young as he looks, that Oz has _never_ really been as young as he looks. It's simply part of what makes him _Oz_.

(_…And Gil would be lying if he said that wasn't a relief, because Break teases him enough as it is; it would be hellish to add _official pervert_ and_ pedophile_ to the list of taunts._)

Now, having dismissed the doubts and theories and confusion once more, Raven closes golden eyes, wondering sleepily what he did (_in this life, or any other_) to deserve the enigmatic being who sleeps beside him each night.

Another mystery.

"_I…still want to be your servant!" _

"_It's been a while…Gilbert…"

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A/N- This is dedicated to all those scenes in the manga (and the anime too, I guess) where Oz gets that _Look_ on his face that says he knows something no one else does, and he's seen more than everyone else has, and, and -splutter- I love it! He looks almost omniscient and way older than he actually is and so cool-! ...Nobody probably knows what I'm talking about; I don't know how else to describe it... -slumps in a corner-

Oh, and for the record, these lines: "…_I can't see what you lost that was so important that you lost yourself, too… Tell me. Just what isn't you anymore?"_ and "_I…still want to be your servant!"_ and "_It's been a while…Gilbert…"_ are from the manga ( ~one manga . com~ is the best thing since sliced bread!), Chapter 7, pages 32-37. Just fyi. They don't belong to me.

Yeeeeeeep. There ya go. Hope it was good! Let me know what you thought! Thanks! -OA


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